We have a Macbook Air mid 2013 and no matter what distro I tried, making wi-fi work was pain due to Broadcom drivers and not having ethernet port. Basically had to install the drivers via phone tethering.
However, probably because of the drivers, there are certain problems like disconnecting out of blue or really slow connection or cannot reconnect unless reboot the PC.
So I want to ask, if you have this Macbook and have Linux installed, which distro you’re using it with? How is it?
Recently I installed Bazzite on a home computer and printers, Xbox controller, iPhone connection, everything the owners need worked out of the box. I’m wondering, would it also work fine with this Macbook too?
Edit: I added these to a blocklist, which I created here >> /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom-wl.conf
This is for BCM4360 adapter.
blacklist b43
blacklist b43legacy
blacklist bcm43xx
blacklist bcma
blacklist brcm80211
blacklist brcmfmac
blacklist brcmsmac
blacklist ssb
For now, it seems fine but need more time to see if the problems are actually gone. At least the reception issue is gone I guess.
Edit 2: Installed LMDE, which wi-fi was working even on live ISO. However, same problems also present here. It has dkms version of the driver but I don’t sense any difference. Same connection drops, same random slowness.
Also found this thread. It describes my issues, but sadly no replies.
Edit 3: Currently experimenting with iwd since I found out this thread from Reddit, surprisingly not deleted, yet.
I installed iwd, disabled NetworkManager, enabled iwd.
sudo systemctl stop NetworkManager
sudo systemctl disable NetworkManager
sudo systemctl start iwd
sudo systemctl enable iwd
Put these on /etc/iwd/main.conf.
[Scan]
DisablePeriodicScan=true
[DriverQuirks]
DefaultInterface=wl
[General]
EnableNetworkConfiguration=true
[Rank]
BandModifier5Ghz=9.0
Though I didn’t add BandModifier since we don’t have 5Ghz anyway.
Then edited /etc/resolv.conf.
nameserver 192.168.1.3 #pi-hole IP
Also installed iwgtk to manage iwd with UI.
Seems fine so far, will edit again if it’s good or not.
Edit 4: It’s… better. Not the ultimate solution though. Slowings on network speed still happen. At least disabling/re-enabling wi-fi fixes the issue. With broadcom-wl driver, it needed Macbook to restart. That’s an improvement I guess.
As someone with 3 Macbook Airs from the 2010s, running Linux, I can tell you that you’re wasting your time trying to make these drivers work. They’re unmaintained and they have introduced new bugs as new kernels come out (as the kernel changes over time, old drivers stop working 100%). For example, the mid-2011 Macbook Air locks up completely when downloading large files. The 2012 one doesn’t wake up from sleep due to the wifi.
The solution is to completely disable these drivers via blacklisting them. And then buy a TINY usb wifi, like the tp-link one, for $6. It works perfectly and it takes no space (just one of your usb ports). That’s the solution. Everything else is a waste of time, speaking from experience. The kernel bug reports I did went unanswered.
Broadcom has always been a kernel black hole.
So many routers stuck on Linux 2.6 or 3.4 due to Broadcom.
I have a 2013 MacBook Air. Works great with EndeavourOS.
MX Linux detects the wifi automagically.
boot off a ubuntu usb. connect to wifi prior to install. now install. all the drivers and settings are integrated in your install. this is the easiest and “just works” option out there.
broadcom != broadcom, there are a buncha those in different macbook models and some have lotsa issues, some minor. that’s the price you pay for repurposing decade-old hardware. me, I am fine with the tradeoffs (MBP 15 2012 on Fedora ova here). good luck!
Thanks!
Well, the problem is no distro ever came with this driver pre-installed, at least the ones I have tried, including Ubuntu. I’m used to trade-offs too but this machine will be for someone else so it should work without problems. Later I have found about blacklisting and luckily that worked, and seems to be working fine so far. Since it’s driver related, distro choice won’t matter here. Unless I could have found a one that comes with that driver.
I installed mint. Used USB WiFi adapter, or shared phone as tethered WiFi over USB, can’t remember what one. Opened the drivers app on mint. It asked me to install the proper drivers. Done. No issues since.
Thanks, that’s good to know. Even though I currently fixed the problem, I’ll keep this in mind.
